Chapter 48: Morning Madness

Mal jolts awake to the sound of knocking at her door. She groans and rolls over, very sore and uncomfortable considering she slept in her clothes all night. She wants to keep sleeping and her heart accelerates when she realizes she's not in her dorm room. The unattractive floral curtains let in some of the morning light and she sits up in shock and looks around some more. The matching floral quilt and cheesy looking wallpaper definitely tell her that they weren't at Auradon or in their decently decorated dorm room. She sits up in a panic.

"Mal, Evie, you guys awake?" a voice on the other side of the door asks. It takes her a minute to realize that it's Jay calling to them. "There's breakfast downstairs in the diner."

It all comes back to her and she rubs her hands over her eyes as the memories playback in a really bad movie-style flashback. She starts wondering what's going to happen next. Everyone has to go home through another portal, but the only person from their realm who knows how to make it is Uma, and as far as they know, she's locked up in the sheriff's statement. She also knows that the daughter of Ursula will not give up those secrets so easily, how will they get it out of her?

Mal turns to see Evie slowly waking up too. She brushes some hair from her face and turns to look at her best friend.

"Sleep okay?" the daughter of the Evil Queen asks, trying to make small talk.

"Like a log," Mal says.

"Me too, I like how quiet Storybrooke is, it's easier to sleep."

"And also, we'd gone through a sword fight and a green glowing portal to get here, which will take a lot out of you."

"That too," Evie says, smiling. She lugs herself off the bed and goes to the bathroom. She immediately begins fixing her hair. She desperately wishes she had her makeup to make herself look at least presentable. She knows that Doug will love her no matter what she looks like, but she'd still prefer to put in a little effort for him.

Mal joins her best friend in the bathroom and splashes some cold water on her face, trying to make herself feel refreshed and more alert, knowing what is going to happen next. She pants slightly from the shock of the cold and lets her head droop forward to allow her to collect her thoughts. Some much had to be done to get everyone home, plus she still hadn't really talked to Ben since his rescue… her anger was still boiling in her stomach, but after seeing him nearly being strangled by Uma's tentacles and almost skewered by Harry Hook, the resentment had faded a little bit. Her eyes reflect a slight greenish glow as she stares at her reflection. It felt as if everyone would be relying on her to get them home, despite the fact that this was Uma, Harry, and Gil's mess. Whatever the hell they hoped to achieve with those portal potions had backfired spectacularly.

Evie can see the distress in Mal's face. She puts a hand on her shoulder and then pulls her "sister" into a hug.

"Don't worry Mal," she says, patting her friend's back. "You won't have to do this alone. I promise we're all in this together."

The daughter of Maleficent says nothing and just returns the hug with a strong squeeze.

The two then head down to the diner.

The place is already full and very noisy. Jay and Jane have pushed some tabled together to allow those from Auradon to sit together. They both sit with glasses of juice in front of them and are talking with each other. Dizzy is at the counter ordering her breakfast, while Doug is examining the nearby jukebox. There are some familiar faces who were not from Auradon; Snow White and Charming are already in a booth across from the group, Neal making a mess with his own breakfast. Regina is also getting some coffee before going to sit with them. Granny is busy taking down orders and barking at her cook Floyd and one of the waitresses to serve the other customers. There are also a ton of strangers in the diner as well, confirming that this place seemed to be the heart of Storybrooke, where everyone conversed. A blonde woman, in fact, the same blonde woman who had called the ambulances the day before, stands at the counter with her young daughter against her hip. A blonde man with blue eyes stands with her as he pays for the bag of food the woman is holding. The man with receding ginger hair, whom Evie knew as Archie is sipping tea in a booth with a woman who had fiery red hair to match his. A baby girl in a lime green dress sits in a highchair next to the booth, banging a spoon up and down. Several shorter looking men in plaid shirts are grabbing coffees before exiting the diner, they look as though they have heavy tool belts on. As the men leave, Carlos walks through the door, causing both Mal and Evie to smile. Jay stands up to look at his best friend.

"Dude, where have you been?" Jay asks as the son of Cruella De Vil sits down next to Jane.

Carlos doesn't answer at first, he seems a little phased, as if in a trance, but Jane gently pats his arm to get his attention.

"What?"

"Where have you been? I woke up and you were gone."

"I… uh, I went and did a bit of exploring."

"Anything interesting?" the son of Jafar asks.

Carlos immediately shakes his head. The daughter of the Fairy Godmother notices her boyfriend's sudden distant look in his eye.

"Carlos, are you okay?" she asks.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, how are you?" he says quickly. Mal can immediately tell that something is off, one of her best friends looks like he's seen a ghost.

"Okay, I guess, though I wished I had extra clothes to change into," Jane says, hating how wrinkled they looked.

"I wish I got the chance to shower," Dizzy adds, bringing over a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon on top.

"Where'd that come from?" Evie says in surprise. Both she and Mal sit down beside each other next to Jay, opposite of Jane, Carlos, and now Dizzy.

"Apparently, it's Emma and Snow White's favourite," the daughter of Drizella explains. "It's a Granny's special."

She takes a sip and a smile spreads across her face. Some cinnamon and whipped cream stick to her upper lip like a moustache. Evie laughs as she hands her a napkin.

"It's really good," Dizzy says. "You guys should try it."

Mal looks over to see Snow White beaming brightly, probably happy that yet another person liked their hot chocolate this way.

Doug then comes and sits next to Evie, putting his arm around her and kissing her cheek. She immediately smiles.

"Good morning my apple pie, how'd you sleep?" he asks.

"Great," she says returning the kiss on his cheek. "And you?"

"Good, although I did hear Ben talking in his sleep a little bit."

"Weird," Evie says. "So what do you think of Storybrooke so far?" The daughter of the Evil Queen could sense the tension in Mal's posture and decides to change the subject.

"I don't really have enough data to develop an opinion," the nerdy dwarf says, adjusting his glasses. "While I do enjoy the more than adequate food served here as well as the 1950s ambiance, I would desire more comfortable bedspreads upstairs. The docks seem like they have become outdated, and not particularly equipped to house boats, especially pirate ships. The hospital seems rather crowded, although that could be due to the size of the town and the number of people…"

Mal becomes bored listening to Doug's analysis of this tiny town, so her mind wanders elsewhere. She looks around the restaurant, looking for something a bit more interesting. Eventually, it finds her instead of the other way around.

A woman, who looked to be at about Emma's age, with dark brown hair and dark eyes walks into the diner, with the bell overhead signalling her entrance. She looks rather sullen and not particularly pleased to be entering the establishment. She goes straight to the counter and orders something from the waitress. She quickly pays out of a black leather wallet.

As the woman waits impatiently for her order, she also looks around. Her eyes immediately go to the colourful cast of strangers in the corner. Her and Mal's eyes meet. The daughter of Maleficent immediately feels uneasy as the woman continues to stare at her. There seems to be underlying darkness beneath her eyes, an insatiable hunger… something her own mother had whenever she talked about her evil schemes. The woman's eyebrows creep together as she seems equally intrigued by this stranger. Her head tilts to the side as she tries to figure out this purple-haired teenager.

Mal can tell that something is off about this girl, it's as if she doesn't belong, or rather she doesn't want to belong to the chatter and activity around her. She can't quite figure out why this woman stands out so much.

Unfortunately, the teenager doesn't get a chance because the woman's order is filled and she walks towards the door. She gives one last look at Mal before exiting the diner.

Mal is spooked and hardly notices when Ben comes down to join everyone. He looks awkwardly at the group as he sits down next to Dizzy, and his gaze lingers longer than anticipated on his ex-girlfriend. However, Mal does not seem to notice it and just continues staring at the door. Even when Emma, Killian, Crystal, and Harry come through the door, it does little to phase her trance-like state.

The entire group tenses at the sight of the son of Captain Hook.

"What is he doing here?" Jane mutters, not particularly pleased that the pirate had held her at sword point the day before.

"Meeting his possible parents I guess," Jay says. "And pursuing Crystal by the looks of it."

"Like Crystal would ever go for Harry, she's too good for him," Evie says. "Don't you think Mal?... Mal?"

The girl blinks hard, snapping back to the present moment. "Huh, what?"

"Are you okay?" Evie asks, seeing how pale her friend looks. "You look like you just saw something scary."

"I'm fine, I thought I saw someone I recognized from yesterday who helped in hospital trip," she lies, biting the edge of her lip. Everyone at the table seems to accept the explanation, but it was far from the truth. Mal could not get the thought out of her head… her eyes must have been messing with her or it was a trick of the light, but she swears that woman's eyes turned a gold colour before she left the diner.

A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting. Just started teacher's college so things are a bit hectic. I'll do my best to update when I can. Sorry for the mediocre title. If you guys can suggest a better one, I'm all ears.